Chapter 372
She didn't want to go back to the room. Loren suggested a coffee shop on the fourth floor. , "Oren and I went there the other day after they arrested Micah."
She followed Loren to the public area of the stronghold. As they passed the sign for photo developing, she remembered the abandoned camera and ducked into the shop to pick up her photos. There was confusion because they were in Jorick's name, not Loren'sas if she meant nothingbut they finally sorted it out and she left clutching an envelope of prints.
The caf¨¦ was filled with white clothed tables, bistro style chairs and a tall marble topped counter. If it hadn't been for vampires wearing the usual unique mixture of modern and old fashioned clothes, the scene could have been from a magazine.
Katelina and Loren sat at a table and she absently flipped through her photos, handing them to the teen for comments. The sunrise came out nice, as did the other day shots she'd taken earlier in the week. The rest were straight faced vampires trying to hide their fangs. As she looked at the pictures she wondered about sending them to her mother. If she thought Jorick was a hippie bum before, she was even more likely to after seeing the company he kept.
A waiter approached and they ordered and then fell into silence. Conversations rose and fell around them, none of them happy.
Katelina let her attention drift around the coffee shop, then noticed Loren's pink cheeks.
"What?"
"Huh?" He looked up quickly and then looked away. "Oh, nothing. I wondered if you knew anything about that Ume girl."
"What about her?"
"She was with Oren and Etsuko when we came here. She's nice."
"Yeah, she seems okay. A bit old for you."
Loren perked up defensively. "She looks about seventeen."
"Yeah, looks. But she was made into a vampire a long, long time ago." She tried to calculate a date. Verchiel had once told her that Kateesha abandoned him in 1710, and they'd been together a while before that. If Ume was turned shortly after Verchiel-"She's three hundred years older than you."
"So? Jorick's like five hundred years older than you."
"But he doesn't look" she broke off. "I see your point."
"The whole immortal thing takes age out of the equation," Loren said. "All that's left is how old they look, and even that doesn't mean a lot. Just coz someone looks fifteen doesn't mean they have a fifteen year old personality." He seemed suddenly irritated. "That's the trouble. Everyone treats you like you're still a kid, even if you've been around for a while."
Katelina didn't have an exact age for Loren, only a guess that involved the 90s. "How long have you been around for?"
"You're what? Twenty-five?" She nodded and he grinned. "Longer than you."
It was hard to accept. His face was caught in that awkward place between child and man, with a rounded jaw and the last of the baby fat still clinging to his cheeks. She noticed for the first time that his eyes, though large and doe-like, didn't look as young as his features. There was something in them that said he'd seen more than she had. It was an uncomfortable sensation.
She looked away. "Well, you don't act like it."
"Says who? Sometimes you don't act twenty-five." He tapped a random tune on the tabletop. "Speaking of that, when's your birthday?"
"March fifteenth."
The waiter interrupted them with their drinks. Katelina sipped her coffee and Loren tasted his spiced blood. "It's cinnamon-y." He took another drink and resurrected their conversation. "March will be here soon. It's like the ninth of February, now. Hey! It's almost Valentine's. You gonna do something for Jorick?"
The question felt strange, like discussing Christmas shopping in the middle of a war zone. "I hadn't thought about it, what with being held prisoner in a vampire stronghold. Plus, I don't think Valentine's Day is his kind of thing."
Loren grinned. "You don't think he's gonna do anything for you." He brightened. "I could totally mention it to him. You know, remind him how important chicks think it is."
"If you want to."
"No prob." He gulped the last of the blood and then toyed with the glass. "Maybe you could, uh, return the favor and put in a good word for me with Ume? I know she and Verchiel had some kind of thing, but since he's hiding from her I think it's over."
Katelina choked on her coffee. "Sure. I can do that." It wasn't up to her to tell him the truth. Let one of the concerned parties do it. She thought of the video they'd seen in the library yesterday. Now that the trial was out of the way. The Children of Shadows were once again the biggest threat. "Actually, I wouldn't mind talking to her."
***
Ume was in the room with Etsuko. Once they were seated, the Japanese woman sat and picked up her needlework. It was a large piece of dark blue cloth, big enough for a blanket. In a darker blue it was embroidered with scrolling dragons and swirls that made Katelina gape.
"Is that the needlework you were talking about?"
"Oh yes," Etsuko answered. "I must remember to ask Oren-sama if I can go to the shops and buy some more thread."
Katelina wanted to tell her that she didn't need permission, but knew it was pointless, so she looked to Loren and Ume. The boy bounced his leg and fidgeted with the string on his hoodie, while the girl was cool and oblivious.
"Ume, we wanted to ask you about the Children of Shadows. Who's in charge of them?"
"Their leader is a mystery," Ume answered. "He goes by the name Father of Shadows."
Right. Why wouldn't he? "So why are you hunting them?"
"We are always hunting them," Ume said. "They've lain quiet for many years, and we started to think they were gone, but lately there's been much activity. They have been amassing an army and supplies."
"To attack Turkey," Loren suggested.
Katelina shook her head. "It's not just Turkey. They sent a video to all the governments yesterday and said they planned to attack other places. Is that why they killed everyone at the marina? Like a warm up exercise?"
"I don't know," Ume said. "We were as surprised as you. At first I thought you were members because you arrived right after they did, but I've since thought perhaps they were lying in wait for you."
Which sounded believable if Cyprus was involved. "Do you know any of their names? Does Cyprus or Ronnell sound familiar?" Katelina stopped to think of Malick's other lackeys, in case they'd also deserted. "Griselda? Arlen?"
"I'm sorry."
Katelina tried not to sound sarcastic, "You've been hunting this group for two or three hundred years and you don't know anything about them?"
"I don't know anything new," Ume corrected. "When I left, none of our information related to their current activities. I'm sure we know more now. If we were able to leave I'd suggest you come with us and speak to Fethillen. But, since we're trapped here..."
Loren piped up, "Jorick probably has an escape plan."
Though no one spoke, Katelina knew they were all thinking the same thing, "I hope so."
